A pair of Flight, Barr and Barr Worcester vases by Thomas Baxter, circa 1814-16
Of classical amphora shape with gilt scroll handles, everted rims and square bases, the apple green ground reserving oval panels edged with raised gilding, finely painted with 'St Cecelia' and 'Sappho', both titled underneath in Thomas Baxter's distinctive hand, 21.3cm high, impressed crowned FBB marks, titles and script marks in red (2)
Footnotes:
Ten years after he visited Merton for the last time, Thomas Baxter retained fond memories of Emma Hamilton. Working for Flight, Barr and Barr, he painted a small number of cabinet cups and vases with the heads of Sappho and St Cecelia, based on published images after fellow Royal Academician Richard Westall. The original painting of Sappho, now in National Museums Liverpool, was traditionally known as 'The Artist's Wife', but Westall never married and it is instead a portrait of Emma. To accompany Sappho on this pair of vases, Baxter has given us St Cecelia, after another of Richard Westall's portraits of Emma. A version of Emma as St Cecelia, said to be by Romney, was owned by Nelson and supposedly hung in his cabin, but it may well have hung for a time at Merton, where it was possibly seen by Thomas Baxter. It is hardly surprising that the likenesses on these Worcester vases appear closer to the real Emma Hamilton than the prints after Westall that Baxter copied.